TicketsMay 29, 2010
GREENSBORO, N.C. - Nine of the University of Cincinnati's 13 athletes competing at the 2010 NCAA Track & Field First and Second Rounds in Greensboro, N.C., competed on Friday and the highlight for Cincinnati came from sophomore Brian Zimmerman as he continued his fantastic season placing fifth in the javelin moving him into the NCAA Finals, which will be held June 9-12 at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore.
For the first time this season, Zimmerman failed to win the javelin, but that was not the objective as Zimmerman looked to finish in the Top 12 of the event in order to advance to the NCAA Finals. He did just that with a fifth-place throw of 222' and with that mark, he will make his first trip to the NCAA's in two weeks.
Sophomore Terence Somerville ran well in the preliminaries of the 110 meter hurdles, but barely missed out on advancing to semifinals by two-tenths of a second after crossing the finish line in 14.21s. Somerville's time was the 24th-best time, however, a runner that had a slower time finished in the Top 3 of his heat which did not allow Somerville to advance.
Senior Antione Drakeford, who was an All-American in the 400m a season ago, clocked in at 46.11 in the semifinals of the 400m besting his time from yesterday's preliminaries, but finished fifth in his heat and placed 14th overall missing out on qualifying for the NCAA Finals. Drakeford will have another shot at advancing to the NCAA Finals on Saturday when he and teammates Ethan Freet, Maurice Norman, and Chase VanCura look to finish in the Top 3 of their heat or register one of the next three fastest times overall in order to reach the NCAA Finals in the 4x400.
Juniors Chris Littleton and Troy Cooper saw their first action of the day in the shot put and Littleton placed 36th with a throw of 55' 3/4", while Cooper finished 42nd with a toss of 52' 7-1/2". Both Littleton and Cooper will have another opportunity to reach the NCAA Finals in the discus, which will be contested at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday, May 29.
Senior Brandon Fitch entered the high jump setting a personal-best mark his last time out, but after opting to pass on the first two heights, Fitch was unable to clear 6' 11" and failed to record a height.
UC's lone women competitors were sophomore Michelle Eby and senior Kayla Dunn in the pole vault. Eby started out at 11' 9-3/4" and cleared that on her second try to move on to the next height of 12' 3-1/2". At 12' 3-1/2", Eby missed on her first two jumps but cleared the mark on her final try to put her in position to finish among the Top 12. However, Eby failed to clear 12' 9-1/2" and placed 29th. Dunn tied for 34th at 11' 9-3/4".
Senior Rick King was scheduled to run the 3,000 meter steeplechase at 8:30 p.m. on Friday, but due to inclement weather he will return to the track to run at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday.
The third and final day of the NCAA First and Second Rounds gets underway on Saturday at 9:30 a.m. with the men's discus and 3,000 meter steeplechase. On Saturday, Cincinnati's Littleton and Cooper compete in the discus, sophomore Eric Finan will run in the 5,000m, King will run in the 3,000 steeplechase, and the 4x400 relay of Freet, Norman, VanCura, and Drakeford will attempt to reach the NCAA Finals at 9:25 p.m.